Difference between revisions of "Beit Halochem UK"
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The TAR does not publish a school-by-school list. The “many primary and secondary schools” line is the charity’s own; it is not limited on the face of the report to Jewish schools only. Israel school-trip volume (“over 2,000 students”) is likewise the charity’s figure, not a Department for Education table. | The TAR does not publish a school-by-school list. The “many primary and secondary schools” line is the charity’s own; it is not limited on the face of the report to Jewish schools only. Israel school-trip volume (“over 2,000 students”) is likewise the charity’s figure, not a Department for Education table. | ||
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| + | [[File:Screenshot 2024-12-12 at 13.25.51.png|400px|thumb|right|[[Tzipi Hotovely]], the fervently Zionist Israeli ambassador to the UK, at [[Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary School|Sacks Morasha school]] in North London with [[Beit Halochem UK]], helping children write letters to the [[IDF]].]] | ||
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| + | [[Beit Halochem UK]] has a heavy presence across schools in the UK, both in giving talks to primary and secondary school children and actively asking for financial support through fundraisers or charity partnerships. <ref>Beit Halochem UK [https://bhuk.org/pages/for-schools Pages for Schools], Beit Halochem UK, 2024</ref> They have worked with schools such as [[Clore Shalom School]], [[Eden Primary School]], [[Etz Chaim]], [[Gesher School]], [[Haberdashers' Aske's Boys School]], [[Hertsmere Jewish Primary School]], [[Hasmonean High School for Boys]], [[Hasmonean High School for Girls]], [[Immanuel College]], Independent Jewish Day School, [[JCOSS]], [[JFS]], [[Kerem Early Years Unit]], [[Kerem School]], [[Mathilda Marks-Kennedy Jewish Primary School]], [[Nancy Reuben Jewish Primary School]], [[North London Collegiate School]], [[North West London Jewish Day School]], [[Rimon Jewish Primary School]], [[Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary School]], Shalom Noam Primary School, [[UCS]] and [[Yavneh College]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | [[File:Screenshot 2024-11-29 at 18.05.16.png|400px|thumb|right|Beit Halochem UK's activity across schools in the UK]] | ||
| + | |||
| + | Most commonly, Beit Halochem organises for an IDF veteran to visit schools and speak to students, giving firsthand accounts of ‘courage and resilience, providing them with invaluable life lessons and a deeper understanding of the sacrifices made by our soliders’. According to Beit Halochem UK, ‘these encounters leave a lasting impression on young minds, shaping their understanding and compassion for those who have sacrificed so much for their countries’. They have also ‘had the privilege of hosting thousands of UK students at Beit Halochem centres in Israel during their school trips, exposing them to first-hand experiences that deepen their appreciation and empathy’. <ref>Beit Halochem UK [https://issuu.com/bhuk/docs/bhuk_winter_magazine_2023.?ff Working with Youth], Beit Halochem UK Winter Magazine, 2023</ref> Indeed, videos posted by the ZDVF display just how impressionable children can be to such messages. <ref>ZDVF [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrbX4TZ0vec Children of the Light], Youtube, December 2023</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | Recently, JFS hosted the annual Beit Halochem UK ‘It’s A Knockout’ event, raising £62,000 for the IDF. <ref>Beit Halochem UK [https://issuu.com/beithalochem/docs/bhuk_annual_dinner_brochure_2024?ff Fundraising Events], Beit Halochem UK Annual Dinner Brochure, 2024</ref> | ||
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| + | In fact, Beit Halochem UK attributes its rocketing financial success in 2024 to its ‘collaboration with both Jewish and non-Jewish schools and youth movements’, and plans to expand their influence amongst young people and young professionals. <ref>Beit Halochem UK [https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/cy/charity-search?p_p_id=uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet&p_p_lifecycle=2&p_p_state=maximized&p_p_mode=view&p_p_resource_id=%2Faccounts-resource&p_p_cacheability=cacheLevelPage&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_objectiveId=A15971438&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_priv_r_p_mvcRenderCommandName=%2Faccounts-and-annual-returns&_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_priv_r_p_organisationNumber=5026946 Accounts and PGCE], Charities Commission, 2024</ref> | ||
== Veteran Games and UK visits == | == Veteran Games and UK visits == | ||
Latest revision as of 11:13, 28 September 2026
UK charitable company (1146950 / 07967938) raising funds for Beit Halochem IDF veteran centres
| Beit Halochem UK | |
|---|---|
| Type | Charitable company |
| Logo | |
| Founded | Company 28 February 2012; charity 19 April 2012 |
| Founder(s) | |
| Dissolved | |
| Registration ID | Charity 1146950; Company 07967938 |
| Status | |
| Headquarters | |
| Location | Suite 3, One Bridge Lane, London NW11 0EA |
| Area served | |
| Services | |
| Registration | |
| Key people | |
| Website | https://bhuk.org |
| Remarks | |
Beit Halochem UK (working name BHUK) is an English charitable company (no. 07967938) and registered charity (no. 1146950). It was incorporated on 28 February 2012 and registered on 19 April 2012. Gift Aid recognised. The register activity line is: raising money for the Beit Halochem Rehabilitation Centres in Israel “that provide facilities and lifelong support to disabled veterans and victims of terror,” and increasing awareness in the UK of those centres.[1]
Objects (governing document): to promote charitable purposes under English law and in particular “to relieve the adverse physical and mental effects suffered by individuals in Israel by reason of terrorist attacks and war by supporting and making donations to the Beit Halochem Rehabilitation Centres in Israel.” Area of operation on the register: Israel.[2]
Beit Halochem (“House of the Warriors”) is the rehabilitation network of the Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization (ZDVO). Centres named in UK reporting: Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Beer Sheva, with Ashdod as a fifth / PTSD hub. Membership figures used by BHUK have risen from about 51,000 before October 2023 to 70,000-plus, including tens of thousands added after Gaza and Lebanon operations. The charity is explicit that the beneficiaries are wounded Israel Defense Forces veterans and civilian terror victims.[3][4]
Same Israeli partner as BFIWD; amalgamation
The British Friends of the Israeli War Disabled Trust (269269, registered 1975) was the older UK friends body of the same ZDVO / Beit Halochem network. ZDVO’s international-partners page listed BFIWD as the UK “delegation” (bfiwd.org). BHUK is the later, larger dinner-and-grant company (2012). They ran in parallel: BFIWD as hospitality visits plus smaller grants; BHUK as the high-volume fundraiser.[5][6]
On 27 July 2026 the Commission removed 269269 as amalgamated and recorded that Beit Halochem UK received its funds. A separate incoming transfer on the BHUK register entry is from The Hyam Sassoon Levi Charitable Trust (1090043) on 23 August 2024.[7]
Do not merge the historic numbers. Dennis Levine is named on ZDVO plaques as founder of Beit Halochem UK, not as a 269269 trustee.
People
Current trustees (register, 2026)
Six trustees. Chair: Honourable Andrew Daniel Wolfson, appointed 1 April 2017. Other trusteeships on the register: Benesco Charity Limited, The Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust, The Music in Secondary Schools Trust.[8]
| Name | Role | Appointed | Other trusteeships on the register |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Daniel Wolfson | Chair | 1 April 2017 | Benesco Charity Limited; The Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust; The Music in Secondary Schools Trust |
| Nathaniel Meyohas | Trustee | 19 December 2012 | None listed |
| Susan Kahn | Trustee | 1 June 2015 | None listed |
| Orly Wolfson | Trustee | 1 September 2015 | None listed |
| Daniel Kattan | Trustee | 1 December 2018 | None listed |
| Ronelle Arbib | Trustee | 4 February 2026 | None listed |
Former trustees
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Daniel Naftalin | On the 2022 and 2024/25 accounts boards (appointed 22 March 2012). Not on the live six-trustee register list. |
| David Tahan | Appointed 1 / 2 February 2022; resigned 30 June 2025 (2024/25 accounts).[9] |
Staff
Three employees; one in the £150k–£200k band (year to 28 February 2025). About 60 volunteers.[1]
| Name | Role | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Spencer Gelding | Chief executive from February 2012 | 2022 and 2025 TARs; public face at dinners and Veteran Games |
| Dina Kestenbaum | Operations manager from October 2022 (PR and marketing) | 2025 TAR |
| David Thrilling | Project manager from October 2023 (UK–Israel veteran links; fundraising) | 2025 TAR |
| Karina Shulman | Operations manager from January 2020 (Veteran Games; veteran-organisation links) | 2022 TAR; succeeded in the later structure |
Dinner chairs named in press: Katie Cutler, Michaela Meyohas. Israeli president Isaac Herzog and Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis have spoken or sent messages to BHUK dinners. Ambassador Tzipi Hotovely attended the 2024 Dorchester dinner.[3][10]
Schools and “awareness”
The 2022 trustees’ report stated:
- We have taken wounded IDF and UK veterans to many primary and secondary schools to share their inspiring and resilient stories as well as taking over 2,000 students to visit one of the four Beit Halochem centres in Israel via their schools trips.[11]
A ZDVO wall plaque thanks “the Jewish Schools in London for their invaluable support to Beit Halochem UK.”[12]
Named school activity:
- JFS School, Harrow — annual “It’s a Knockout” family day (June 2026: 1,150 children, 700 adults, £46,000 for Beer Sheva PTSD clinics).[13]
- JFS mental-health / veteran-speaker work with former Royal Marine Chris Hayes meeting “500 students” (Jewish News, 2023).[14]
The TAR does not publish a school-by-school list. The “many primary and secondary schools” line is the charity’s own; it is not limited on the face of the report to Jewish schools only. Israel school-trip volume (“over 2,000 students”) is likewise the charity’s figure, not a Department for Education table.
Beit Halochem UK has a heavy presence across schools in the UK, both in giving talks to primary and secondary school children and actively asking for financial support through fundraisers or charity partnerships. [15] They have worked with schools such as Clore Shalom School, Eden Primary School, Etz Chaim, Gesher School, Haberdashers' Aske's Boys School, Hertsmere Jewish Primary School, Hasmonean High School for Boys, Hasmonean High School for Girls, Immanuel College, Independent Jewish Day School, JCOSS, JFS, Kerem Early Years Unit, Kerem School, Mathilda Marks-Kennedy Jewish Primary School, Nancy Reuben Jewish Primary School, North London Collegiate School, North West London Jewish Day School, Rimon Jewish Primary School, Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary School, Shalom Noam Primary School, UCS and Yavneh College.
Most commonly, Beit Halochem organises for an IDF veteran to visit schools and speak to students, giving firsthand accounts of ‘courage and resilience, providing them with invaluable life lessons and a deeper understanding of the sacrifices made by our soliders’. According to Beit Halochem UK, ‘these encounters leave a lasting impression on young minds, shaping their understanding and compassion for those who have sacrificed so much for their countries’. They have also ‘had the privilege of hosting thousands of UK students at Beit Halochem centres in Israel during their school trips, exposing them to first-hand experiences that deepen their appreciation and empathy’. [16] Indeed, videos posted by the ZDVF display just how impressionable children can be to such messages. [17]
Recently, JFS hosted the annual Beit Halochem UK ‘It’s A Knockout’ event, raising £62,000 for the IDF. [18]
In fact, Beit Halochem UK attributes its rocketing financial success in 2024 to its ‘collaboration with both Jewish and non-Jewish schools and youth movements’, and plans to expand their influence amongst young people and young professionals. [19]
Veteran Games and UK visits
BHUK runs and funds joint Veteran Games with British military veterans in Israel and brings Israeli veterans to London (sightseeing, host events, security contractors named in press). That is the same genre of hospitality as historic BFIWD visits, at larger scale.[11][20]
Finances
Year end late February. No government contracts or grants.[21]
| Year end | Income | Expenditure | Grants to institutions (where given) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Feb 2021 | £1.55m | £1.58m | £1.26m |
| 28 Feb 2022 | £1.23m | £1.07m | £0.72m |
| 28 Feb 2023 | £2.13m | £2.30m | £1.61m |
| 29 Feb 2024 | £4.18m | £3.38m | £2.74m |
| 28 Feb 2025 | £4.66m | £3.60m | £1.69m |
The 2025 TAR also records £1.65 million transferred by donors straight to the Israeli partner and therefore left out of the UK statements under Commission accounting rules. Dinner headlines: about £2.1 million (June 2026), £1.7 million (July 2025), £2 million-plus (September 2024). BHUK / dinner chairs have claimed cumulative UK fundraising of about £44–54 million over 13–14 years.[9][3]
Raising-funds spend jumped to £1.60 million in 2024/25 (from £0.32 million the year before).
2025 transfer fraud
In May 2025 chair Andrew Wolfson and CEO Spencer Gelding wrote to donors that a “sophisticated” fraud by a third-party FX firm they had used for three years had hit a single UK-to-Israel transfer, reported in the region of £1 million (under 10 per cent of sums raised since 7 October 2023). Police and the Commission were notified; at least two other organisations were said to have been targeted.[22]
Donors
The Commission register does not publish a donor list. Named funders below combine the BHUK “Supporters” page, 360Giving / Pears disclosures, and Charity commission data. Amounts only where a public grant line exists.
On bhuk.org supporters (Founder Benefactor / Benefactor / Chai Patron bands): Lyall and Candice Cresswell; Barbara Cohen z”l; Ty and Caprice Comfort; The Erica Lawson Charitable Trust; Future Directions Foundation; Charles Gourgey; The Harris Family Charitable Trust; Alan and Caroline Howard; the Jaffe family; John and Sandra Joseph; the Kattan family; Justin and Judith Keller; the Kirsh Family Office; The Parasol Foundation; The Pershing Square Foundation; Rachel Charitable Trust; Gerald and Gail Ronson Family Foundation; Maurice and Vivienne Wohl Philanthropic Foundation; The Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust; The Wolfson Family Charitable Trust; Yael Foundation; Edward and Rebecca Barnett; The Bluston Charitable Settlement; Stephen and Valerie Davis; Graham and Georgina Edwards; The Exilarch's Foundation; Israel Lazarus Charitable Trust; Neville and Susie Kahn; Nathaniel and Michaela Meyohas; David and Karine Morris; Daniel and Faye Naftalin; Pears Foundation; Anthony and Sally Ann Thwaites; The Paul E Singer Foundation; David and Yael Zisser; Shraga and Janet Cohen; Simon and Annette Dalah; FourSixThree Capital LP; Allen and Caroline Hanouka; Phillip and Michelle Hertz; Mark and Abbie Joseph; David and Sally Kattan; Marc and Lydia Lauer; Loftus Charitable Trust; Maurice and Rochelle Miller; Rosemarie Nathanson Charitable Trust; The Ralph Trust; Gary and Lindsay Sacks.[23]
Family Foundations Trust; Denise Cohen Charitable Trust; Pears grants including £50,000 (Jan 2024–Jan 2026), £60,000 Veteran Games 2023, £25,000 (2022), £50,000 (2020), £25,000 (2019).[24]
Related-party overlay: Charles Wolfson / Andrew Wolfson; Kattan and Meyohas / Naftalin families appear both as trustees or dinner chairs and as named benefactors.
UK Friends of AWIS — different charity
UK Friends of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel's Soldiers (UK-AWIS / UK Friends of AWIS, 1084272, company 04094203) is a separate IDF-facing UK charity. Objects: serving and discharged Israeli soldiers — education, leisure, relief of need. It is not ZDVO / Beit Halochem.
The Commission opened a compliance case in December 2023 after reporting that UK-AWIS fundraising material supported serving IDF units and after a video on its site/YouTube that appeared to show a killing (the Commission later said it did not depict a killing but was “distressing”). Trustees were found to have outsourced the website to a former executive. Official warning under s.75A, 9 June 2025: misconduct/mismanagement; review of content by 9 December 2025. Transfers to Israel were paused then resumed. BHUK has not had an equivalent published official warning on the live register.[25][26]
See also
- The British Friends of the Israeli War Disabled Trust
- Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization
- UK Friends of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel's Soldiers
- Loftus Charitable Trust
- Pears Foundation
- The Charles Wolfson Charitable Trust
Contact
- Web: bhuk.org
- Internet Archive: bhuk.org
- Facebook: facebook.com/beithalochemuk
- Address: Suite 3, One Bridge Lane, London NW11 0EA
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 BEIT HALOCHEM UK, Charity Commission 1146950.
- ↑ Full print, Charity Commission 1146950.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Justin Cohen, Record £2m raised to ease Israel’s spiralling PTSD crisis, Jewish News, 16 June 2026.
- ↑ Daniel Ben-David, British Jewry raises £1.7 million to support wounded IDF veterans, The Jewish Chronicle, 2 July 2025.
- ↑ International Partners, ZDVO.
- ↑ The British Friends of the Israeli War Disabled Trust
- ↑ Governance, Charity Commission 1146950.
- ↑ Trustees, Charity Commission 1146950.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Report of the trustees, Beit Halochem UK, year ended 28 February 2025, Charity Commission accounts file.
- ↑ Jenni Frazer, Standing ovation for IDF heroes in London, Jewish News, 19 September 2024.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Report of the trustees, Beit Halochem UK, year ended 28 February 2022, Charity Commission accounts file.
- ↑ Wall of Honor, zdvo.org.
- ↑ Michelle Rosenberg, Beit Halochem UK ‘It’s a Knockout’ event raises £46,000, Jewish News, 10 June 2026.
- ↑ Justin Cohen, Former Royal Marine meets 500 students in mental health drive, Jewish News, 2 February 2023.
- ↑ Beit Halochem UK Pages for Schools, Beit Halochem UK, 2024
- ↑ Beit Halochem UK Working with Youth, Beit Halochem UK Winter Magazine, 2023
- ↑ ZDVF Children of the Light, Youtube, December 2023
- ↑ Beit Halochem UK Fundraising Events, Beit Halochem UK Annual Dinner Brochure, 2024
- ↑ Beit Halochem UK Accounts and PGCE, Charities Commission, 2024
- ↑ Five days in London with Beit Halochem veterans, Jewish News, 16 April 2025.
- ↑ Financial history, Charity Commission 1146950.
- ↑ Daniel Sugarman, UK charity supporting IDF veterans hit by £1 million transaction fraud, Jewish News, 20 May 2025.
- ↑ Supporters, Beit Halochem UK.
- ↑ Beit Halochem UK, Giving is Great.
- ↑ UK charity warned by regulator over fundraising video for Israeli soldiers, Middle East Eye, 24 July 2025.
- ↑ Official warning, UK Friends of AWIS (1084272), 9 June 2025.